Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My response is the same as previously. I do not have a date for when the business case was established but I can come back to the Deputy with it later today. The total number of cards issued to date is 3.9 million, which have been issued to 3.2 million people. Some people lose their cards and need to get a second one, and others reach an age where they need to change their cards to add free transport, and so on. There are 3.2 million active users, and 3.9 million cards have been issued to date. The card production company has been paid €29.2 million; the staff costs associated are estimated at €36 million; the facial matching company, Gemalto, has been paid €294,000; and the miscellaneous costs are €2.3 million.

In response to the Comptroller and Auditor General's findings - I ask the Deputy to stop me if this is of no use to her - the Department stated that the project was innovative and given the lack of existing comparators, it was not possible to properly estimate the costs at that time until market testing via procurement processes had taken place. That gave rise to some of the Comptroller and Auditor General's findings at the time, which have subsequently been established through practice and further information.

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